With only one battle left(sdnative vs. Artimon) in the first of 3 Sicilian scenarios the score is 16-14 Allies. The first 4 battles so far have produced identical 8-6 scores, 2 for the Axis and 2 for the Allies. Very close competition so far.

Also, I would like any of you to preview the next battle. JayKay has done so and I took his advice for some minor changes. Just let me know when you might be available. This one has a neat 'sneak attack' feature for the Allies using terrain and a special badge for the Axis to increase it's manueverability.
Thanks.

I think what we'll do is continue with the tournament and move on to the next round. Artimon and sdnative, when you have settled on a time, let me know, and I will switch back for your game.

So, Droopy needs to let Jeronimon know who his 2 point player will be and then Jeronimon can make the matchups.

The scenario is The Battle of Troina. Please do not go by the 73% Allied victory number. This scenario has been revamped dramatically. It is still a tough go for the Germans but they have a couple of options to gain victory. The 3rd scenario in Sicily will be very tough for the Allies. Both of them can be won from either side but I suspect the Allies have the advantage in the first and the Axis in the second.

Intelligence tells us that the next battle is in our favor, but the information is to this day classified. You will be briefed when more is known. If you have to go into battle unbriefed, good luck and let's be careful out there!

The score at the conclusion of the first scenario in Sicily is 17-14 in favor of the Allies. The next scenario will be posted tonight(I'm now at work). It is 'The Capture of Troina'. Both the next 2 scenarios will involve Allied attacks with Axis defending and counterattacking.

General Jeronimon, the previous information you received may be faulty. After numerous preliminary attempts, I have rarely succeeded to win as the Allies. Please advise the other commmanders that the German positions are heavily defended. Also be aware of quick strike incursions into our lines by infiltrators. It is also a good idea to take advantage of the 'gullies'.

Just a heads up. This Sunday and Monday I will be putting 'Counterattack at Gela' back online. Sauron93 and Titanos will be using the scenario for a tournament final. I promised I would put it up Sunday so they could practice for the Monday final. 'Breaking the Etna line' will be back up Tuesday.

Also, I will be posting 5 scenarios from mainland Italy. I would like each of you to select 3 of them in order of preference. I will award 3 points for your top one, 2 for the second one, and 1 point for your 3rd one. The top 3 scenarios will be our final ones. If you think the Axis or Allies has an advantage in a scenario, rate it high. The final 3 battles will be determined by your vote.

Just wanted to post here that the next scenario is now online; 'Breaking the Etna Line'. Another tough nut to crack for the Allies.

By the way, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The scenarios in Italy are completed and, in my opinion, are slightly tougher to win as Axis.

Have fun!

Eric just wanted to point out that Breaking the Etna line has the the Bridge on a Road Bug..
Units that are entering a bridge that is on a road must only enter or exit on adjacent road hexes..
As it is now units can enter the bridge from any adjacent hex.

I am aware of the bug but I wanted to allow units to enter the bridge from any adjacent hex. The Allies are constricted enough and had a hard time making progress during trial runs. I'll make a note of that bug in the description.

Units that are entering a bridge that is on a road must only enter or exit on adjacent road hexes..

Where is this rule posted? This came up recently in a Vassal game, and although I was certainly of the opinion that it makes sense that one should have to enter / exit from the road hex, I have been unable to actually show it to be ~ A Rule ~ ...

On a related note : If a unit starts and ends its turn on a road, it of course receives a road bonus of plus one move. Is this also true if the unit happens to cross over a bridge, or does the fact that the bridge is their, scratch the road bonus? Seems to me that the bridge is pretty much part of the road, but again - I have not been able to dig up a definitive rule.

The bridge does scratch the road bonus. You must start and end on a road hex to get the bonus.

I'll see if I can come up with the bridge over road rule. I do know you can cross a bridge over a river from any adjacent hex. If you look at my scenario, I do not have a road under the bridge, so there may not be a bug after all.

Eric - The SFTF rule makes little sense - one would think that there would be a designation for authors' who have popular scenarios - perhaps 3 star scenarios get a free ride or something... At the very least, 2 or 3 makes more sense than 1...

OK - Road thing - The turn *did* start and end on a road - the bridge just happened to be between the two road hexes...

Units that are entering a bridge that is on a road must only enter or exit on adjacent road hexes..

Where is this rule posted? This came up recently in a Vassal game, and although I was certainly of the opinion that it makes sense that one should have to enter / exit from the road hex, I have been unable to actually show it to be ~ A Rule ~ ...

On a related note : If a unit starts and ends its turn on a road, it of course receives a road bonus of plus one move. Is this also true if the unit happens to cross over a bridge, or does the fact that the bridge is their, scratch the road bonus? Seems to me that the bridge is pretty much part of the road, but again - I have not been able to dig up a definitive rule.

Not sure how I missed the most obvious - look at the ~ Bridge Card ~... Guess I was caught up in Winter Rules - was trying to juggle learning Winter Rules, Breakout Format, and "Strategy" at the time ( and not very effectively I might add )...

Hmmmm.... that's interesting. That must be an updated card from sdnative. Does the Q & A need to be changed?

By the way, Counterattack at Gela is back up until Monday night.

Also, tomorrow night I will post 7 scenarios(not6)on the SFTF page. Some of them have already been posted online before, but may be slightly altered for our tournament. They are divided into 4 scenarios where the Allies attack, 2 where the Axis attack, and 1 where both can attack. Please select 3 you would like to play in the Italian campaign. Please list them in order from 1 to 3 with 1 being your favorite. The top 3 will be our final scenarios.

The road bonus is also discussed in the July 2010 Q & A that I linked previously...

Still curious as to the different versions of the bridge card... It appears that the one posted by SDN is a screen capture from a scenario, which of course argues that it is the most up to date version - except, we don't really know if it reads that way on all current official scenarios...

I want to say that whatever DOW officially posts within the compendium *should* be the ~ Official ~ card, but then again - it's hard to argue with Memoir On Line if it is restricting one's movement...

My understanding of the access to bridges rule is that the general rule allows access from any adjacent hex, however some scenarios have specific rules which change that, restricting access from say a road hex only (for example).

This rule change would be specifically mentioned in the scenario rules, when applicable, but if not, then the general rule allowing full access to the bridge applies.

My understanding of the access to bridges rule is that the general rule allows access from any adjacent hex, however some scenarios have specific rules which change that, restricting access from say a road hex only (for example).

This rule change would be specifically mentioned in the scenario rules, when applicable, but if not, then the general rule allowing full access to the bridge applies.

That does not make sense since a scenario specific rule is not printed on the cards and the card mentioning this rule is on ALL official and SFTF online scenarios.

My understanding of the access to bridges rule is that the general rule allows access from any adjacent hex, however some scenarios have specific rules which change that, restricting access from say a road hex only (for example).

This rule change would be specifically mentioned in the scenario rules, when applicable, but if not, then the general rule allowing full access to the bridge applies.

That does not make sense since a scenario specific rule is not printed on the cards and the card mentioning this rule is on ALL official and SFTF online scenarios.

I am completely with sdn on this one. The real issue is that the card appears in two versions, each having the same compendium number.

With that said, assuming you haven't checked EVERY scenario which has a bridge hex - and I'm not sure I want to suggest that anyone burn ( or in this case, perhaps melt away ) any ingots to pop in and out of maps solely for that purpose, perhaps we could be sure to check any bridges that are on a scenario that we happen to be playing, and test this theory?...

I can only guess that the 'access to bridge' rule must have been updated at some point therefore, in order to accomodate the situation for when a road is leading onto a bridge. (so that, in such a situation it therefore always requires access from the road hex), which makes sense.